The multi purpose surging fuge

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok! we all know about the AWESOME SURGE DEVICES all over the web.

Of course, nobody has the same fish tank, nor the same amount of room to have everything they desire.
Some people, like me, have a woman in there life that requires a certain...how you say...keep your crap out of here.

Well in my recent venture to the LFS, the owners gave me a few presents since Im such a "good" customer. (meaning I don't tell the other customers that they don't really need "that.").

I got an old oceanic skimmer with the eheim 1250 pump and a 10g drilled tank for practically free.

The skimmer will be discussed in the future after I Mod it into a recirc.

The 10 gallon on the other hand will be the topic now.

The hole they drilled was a little too small for me to plumb into my main tank the way i intended so i got to thinking.

What can a 10gallon fish tank with a hole do?
1. Leak.
2. become a separate refugium
3. become a surge device.
4. become a quarantine tank for systems like mine that are all on the same water column. (i have a 10g comm tank and a 75 predator tank not he same sump)


Ok. I guess the most logical choice was to not take home the extra tank but I am not logical.
I began to plan my 3 story quarantine, and i did not want to buy anything else...recyclable hunt!
In the process I found a bunch of crap, so I ended up just buying a few fittings.

At this time here was my plan.

THe 10 gallon was going to act as the HOB part of an overflow box AND a fuge for community fish., with water siphoning into it from a non drilled 29., thus draining to sump and back to the 29.

So i made a Durso Standpipe in the 10Gallon.

I looked at it for a minute and thought....well this could easily be adapted into a Carlson surge Device as well!
LOOK UP THE DURSO STANDPIPE IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS. I DID NOT INVENT IT MYSELF.

The great thing about the standpipe is this:
THe drain inlet can accept a pipe that reaches the bottom of the tank.
If you take the Cap off, you can insert an elbow and run a pipe down into the water as well from there. This is literally all there is to it. you suspend the tank above you DISPLAY and run pipe down below the water level and run a pump up to the 10 Gallon.

I concluded something else very neat as well.


If you leave the cap on the top, but still put the drain extension on, you have essentially made a bubble trap.
This gives you the opportunity to use it as say...A place for a skimmer! now pet stores and people with Tank Equipment ROOMS would be abe to use this with out worrying about the looks of it.


I have a small animation of this in action here THE SURGE FUGE Medium - YouTube


I can make instructions or answer questions if needed...but this was just a really awesome thing with endless possibilities.

 

[AsphaltPays]

Great video and great ideas


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

 

[bige]

Great video. Have you made it yet?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

yes, I made it and then Animated it as I did not feel like Setting it up 3 ways lol.

plus you can see what the functions are a lot easier.


I will have a pics of it eventually being used along with videos.

The surge is not as large as most surges, since the tank came with only a 3/4 inch hole :/ but does keep up with the hose on at full blast. I have not tried it with the discharge submerged yet, so that may increase the siphon. I have theories not math haha.


My first step is using it as the Overflow box as a fuge for my 3 peaceful fish while My lions and puffer go in the 29 while i drain my system and re plumb my current "underflows." (overflows that are insufficiently slow).
The only thing I am going to have to do is make the box in the tank...I may build something that holds a powerhead that will suck the air out of the Overflow tubes and not take up space. Or I might just use a plastic cup with a hook...it won't have to be pretty as a quarantine.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

also check out the other links, they are all original cartoon shorts...THE FALKEN SHOWCASE

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Actual Photographs

Here is the tank and the plumbing.

As you can see, the durso is the basic setup. obviously the uses are endless.

Add the drain extension and you have a Pvc bubble trap (kind of like on some skimmers, the bubbles do not make it to the bottom of the column of water) this is a good setup for use as an overflow box that you need extra volume for what ever reason

Add the air intake extension and it is a fully adjustable CARLSON SURGE DEVICE. These make great toys out side of the aquaria.

People that do not know water physics are great people to show these to.

You point the outlet at them, they usually don't even notice it...
But you Fill up the tank and act like nothings about to happen. RIght before it discharges say, i hope this doesn't leak and turn off the hose...Then run.

Not only do they get soaked but they are so confused about what happened that they generally don't get mad.

IN FACT! this inspired an out door drinking game!

ITs like kings, or any game that requires you pour your drink in a large pitcher for some (un)lucky contestant to chug...well instead, of a pitcher, use a surge device. Sometimes you may need to use a pitcher to hold the booze, than pour it in the CSD to get it to syphon.


WELLL....Beer bongs do not even compare. At all.

I also recommend a purge bucket nearby incase your stomach explodes with foam..


THE GAME IS CALLED: POISON TSUNAMI. a product of IOWA

 

[SeymourDuncan]

 

[SeymourDuncan]

the tank, the durso, the extensions, fully assembled.

If you do not add the air intake extension it does not surge but prevents bubbles from getting sucked up

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I WOULD DEFINITELY USE AS LARGE AS A HOLE AS POSSIBLE. this tank was free and came with a 3/4inch accepting hole

I also did not use actual bulkheads, but threaded pvc connecters. i had to cut the threaded part shorter so it would close the rubber seal @ the hole.

My closest Lowes is 30 miles and they don't have squat. the local hardware store has even less. The latter is where I went.

 

[psionicdragon]

neat..this might help get rid of the crud that sits in the sump/fuge/

 

[SeymourDuncan]

neat..this might help get rid of the crud that sits in the sump/fuge/

How do you plan to utilize this as a sump? just curious as this design is intended above a sump. maybe have a surge go into the huge? why not just use a filter sock?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

neat..this might help get rid of the crud that sits in the sump/fuge/

By what means do you plan on utilizing this to clean your sump?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok, so now that i finished building the tank...I had to use it somehow. thought about just using it a surge tank, but then decided i should wait until i redo my canopy due to salt splash. I have **** near bursted a bulb by accidentally touching it with my salty wet finger....boyo! that was painful.

NExt idea: replace the community tank that has a hob overflow with this nicer looking drilled version. also not on my agenda...I have such a good population of crap in my sand I don't want to crush them in the process unless I have to. i.e. when I move they are all going to have to deal with it.


SO! I decided what the heck...I drilled a hole in an "antique" stand that my cats used to eat their food...it just so happens to hold a 5 gallon bucket perfectly and the tank was the exact width.

I took out the drawer because the plumbing had to go through it. I'm going to paint it white as well. it suspends the light over the tank and hides the return line.

now why would i put the overflow box in the front of the tank???? Pure chance made this happen basically. I had this container for another function that happened to have a hole in it that the pvc fit snuggly in. i will eventually get a new box that will go towards the back, but FUNCTION OVER FORM THIS TIME

Im using an eheim 1250 as the return pump and no power heads.

That rock in the 10 is NOT my pet. its holding down the shelf

THe rock in my sump IS my pet and will be situated on the shelf, giving a full sand bed and a nice sized refuge from the not so bright light.


I will go with corals that do not need tHt much lighting, mushrooms probably. No fish...but a classy cleanup crew.

I was contemplating doing a cool water tank, but living where I do, we don't even get the internet unless we stand on our roof.

This is definitely not the nicest ghetto tank I have seen, but its the only one I have made from the beginning with a plan, the girlfriend even likes it.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok, now I am moving and the Surge Fuge WILL BE USED. I am going to try to use it as many different ways as possible for anyones needs. It does a ton. Infact, it has inspired me to make the 75gallon Zoanthid Tide tank in another of my threads, which will also be updated and in use afer the move! OH BOY I CANT WAIT